Walmart is shutting down MP3 Music Store, DRM Servers...

Like Yahoo and MSN before them, Walmart is turning off its DRM servers on Oct. 9, effectively putting any DRM'd songs you bought from them into a cold stasis they'll never wake up from, since they'll become totally unmovable unless you circumvent the DRM.

Walmart went through this earlier with their video store, though it didn't matter since no one bought anything from it.

Here are the information post by someone got mail from Walmart Music Team-

Important Information About Your Digital Music Purchases

We hope you are enjoying the increased music quality/bitrate and the improved usability of Walmart's MP3 music downloads. We began offering MP3s in August 2007 and have offered only DRM (digital rights management) -free MP3s since February 2008. As the final stage of our transition to a full DRM-free MP3 download store, Walmart will be shutting down our digital rights management system that supports protected songs and albums purchased from our site.

If you have purchased protected WMA music files from our site prior to Feb 2008, we strongly recommend that you back up your songs by burning them to a recordable audio CD. By backing up your songs, you will be able to access them from any personal computer. This change does not impact songs or albums purchased after Feb 2008, as those are DRM-free.

Beginning October 9, we will no longer be able to assist with digital rights management issues for protected WMA files purchased from Walmart.com. If you do not back up your files before this date, you will no longer be able to transfer your songs to other computers or access your songs after changing or reinstalling your operating system or in the event of a system crash. Your music and video collections will still play on the originally authorized computer.

Thank you for using Walmart.com for music downloads. We are working hard to make our store better than ever and easier to use.

Walmart Music Team

Source- Walmart

Category › Gadgets Updates , Industry News , technology news , Upcoming gadgets

Release date of "The Chronicles Of Spellborn"

The decidedly different MMO Chronicles of Spellborn, finally has a release date...in Germany and the rest of Europe at least. Delivered with this preliminary packshot was news that November 27th would be the fateful date when the game finally sees the light of fluorescent retail store bulbs.

They'll be ramping up things on the beta front over the coming weeks, so now would be a pretty good time to hit up the web page and register, just in case you care to get a taste. For more info, have a look- www.tcos.com

Source- kotaku

Category › Entertainment , Industry News , Upcoming gadgets

Apple iPhone 2.1 and iTunes 8 Available Next Tuesday

It is now backtracking from its initial prediction that iTunes 8 won't be a hit in Apple's Let's Rock September 9 event. Not only iTunes 8 will be available then, but they say Apple will also release the iPhone 2.1 update that in theory will fix its huge password security flaw.

Jacqui hints that the 2.1 update will have new secret features that are absent from the beta.

Source- Gizmodo

Category › Apple gadgets , Gadgets Updates , Industry News , Upcoming gadgets

Mercenaries 2 World in Flames gameplay

Mercenaries 2 World in Flames is an upcoming video game developed by Pandemic Studios and published by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to 2005's Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction and is due for release in the United States on August 31, 2008 and in Europe on September 5, 2008. The game is set in Venezuela.

In this Mercenaries 2 World in Flames featurette, "director Cameron Brown talks about destruction, and why it is such an important part of the game's concept."

Source- Techeblog and Wiki

Category › Games , Industry News , Upcoming gadgets

Apple iPhone price- 31,000 & 36,100 for 8 & 16GB respectively

Wired news from cellpassion.mobi that Vodafone iPhone 3G will come for no less than Rs. 31,000 and Rs. 36,100 for th 8GB and 16GB versions i.e. approximately $700 and $825, which probably will be the most expensive iPhone 3Gs on any carrier in the world.


In all probability, the iPhone 3G will be priced the same on Airtel as well. Subscribers who had pre-booked the iPhone 3G on Vodafone can pay an advance of Rs 10,000 either today or tomorrow to break the queues. Let's see how many of Indian people book in advance....

Source- http://cellpassion.mobi

Category › Apple gadgets , Industry News , Mobile gadgets , Upcoming gadgets

Microsoft's Zune player seeking Hollywood & Apple

Microsoft's Zune is looking to Hollywood to gain an edge on Apple's iPod.

Microsoft executives have been making the rounds at talent agencies and production companies in recent months in hopes of licensing exclusive original video programming for the portable media player, which has struggled to gain traction in the marketplace.

While Microsoft has denied persistent rumors that Zune would expand into communications a la Apple's iPhone, the company confirmed being in an "exploratory phase" regarding supplementing the TV content it already licenses from studios with Zune-only fare.

But rather than just stock up on traditional formats like sitcoms, Zune is looking for nonconventional programming that can capitalize on the device's social networking platform, according to Richard Winn, director of entertainment development at Zune.

"What we would be looking to do with any form of original content is the added component that Zune could provide that iTunes or any competing service couldn't," Winn said.

Exclusivity could mean either locking up content that only appears on the Zune platform or syndicating content that appears first on Zune before moving elsewhere with Zune branding.

Finding some point of distinction is becoming paramount for Zune as it strives to come anywhere close to the market share that iPod has amassed among portable media players. In May, Microsoft said that just 2 million Zunes had been sold since the product's launch in November 2006, whereas Apple reportedly averages 3.5 million iPod sales per month.

But the iPod has no exclusive content. Becoming the only hand-held device to boast exclusive programming could represent either a bold reinvention of Zune or a last-ditch effort to stave off extinction.

Microsoft has been dogged by rumors that Zune will be scrapped. Robbie Bach, president of entertainment and devices division at Microsoft, raised eyebrows last month among Microsoft watchers by barely mentioning Zune in a session with analysts.

But Winn said Zune is in no such danger. Rather, the product plays a key role in Microsoft's buildout of an interconnected ecosystem where content seamlessly flows among all company-owned platforms like Xbox.

It's that gaming console that inspired Microsoft to think differently about Zune, Winn said. He cites "Halo," the popular video game franchise that helped establish Xbox as a tool for remote multiplayer action as opposed to single-player mode. Similarly, Winn sees Zune as poised to redefine video consumption -- from the traditional solitary pursuit to the backbone for a more communal experience.

Key to that strategy is Zune Social, which connects Zune users through social networking software that, among other capabilities, lets fellow subscribers know the last song consumed. By Winn's thinking, the characters in an original program conceivably could have playlists of their own that could automatically load into users' devices -- deepening connections between users and content.

"The thing we've all been looking for is, 'What can we do that is a little more interesting than just looking at a piece of video?' " Winn said.

It's a far cry from when Zune launched nearly two years ago as a music player. But Microsoft has broadened its utility just as iPod has, introducing a video marketplace in May with a few select content partners including NBC Universal and MTV Networks. Gaming also is slowly being added.

Now Zune is looking to not only add programming that iTunes doesn't deliver but also take the same programming it does and supplement it with Zune Social. Microsoft already has begun experimenting with adding extra features to video game "Ninja Gaiden II" and NBC series "Heroes."

Source- news.yahoo.com

Category › Entertainment , Gadgets Updates , Industry News , technology news

Xbox 360 Arcade price cut to $199 on September 7 - Rumours

Rumours are that an Xbox 360 price cut is in the works, and now we're starting to see some evidence -- VGChartz scored this image of an unknown retailer's inventory system showing the 360 Arcade dropping to $199 on September 7th.

There's no word on whether the rumored 60GB and Elite price cuts are coming as well, but they'd certainly be welcome -- and with Rock Band 2 scheduled to hit just a week later, we'd say next month is looking like a good one for Xbox fans.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/03/xbox-360-arcade-dropping-to-199-on-september-7/

Category › Games , Industry News , Rumours , Upcoming gadgets